5.  The applicants’ particulars are set out in the table in the appendix.
6.  On 4 September 2007 Ms Tarantino failed the entrance examination to study at the Faculty of Medicine in Palermo. In 2007 two thousand students sat this examination and there were two hundred and ten places available. She failed the examination again in 2008 and 2009.
7.  On 14 December 2007 the first applicant and other students lodged a complaint with the President of the Republic alleging that Law no. 264/1999, in particular the two binding criteria used by the Ministry to set the number of students allowed admission to the relevant faculty of each university (see paragraph 17 below), was incompatible with Article 3(2)(c) and (g) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Directive 2005/36/CE on the recognition of professional qualifications, Article 15 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Article 6 § 2 of the Treaty on the European Union, with regard to the principle of equality, and Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention. She further contested both the State’s decision to impose the same limitations on private universities and the adequacy of the entrance examinations. The first applicant also asked to be provisionally admitted to the university under a conditional clause.
8.  By a decree of 2 July 2008 the Supreme Administrative Court (Consiglio di Stato) rejected her request for an interim measure.
9.  On 23 September 2008 the first applicant made further pleadings and reiterated her request for the matter be submitted to the European Court of Justice (the “ECJ”) for a preliminary ruling. Her pleadings were transmitted to the Supreme Administrative Court in October 2008.
10.  By a decree of 28 April 2009 (no. 2256), adopted on the basis of the Supreme Administrative Court’s advisory opinion delivered on 12 November 2008 and notified to the first applicant on 14 May 2009, the President of the Republic rejected the complaints. The decree stipulated that, bearing in mind the human and material resources of the universities, the contested admission restrictions, allowing entrance only to the most meritorious students, were reasonable and therefore compatible with the provisions of the European Union (EU) invoked. Moreover, in line with the increase in society’s need for qualified doctors, admissions to the faculties of medicine in 2008-09 had increased by 10-20%. It noted that the professional examination, after a degree had been obtained, was not an academic title in itself but a State examination like those held in most States. Lastly, it dismissed the allegation that the entrance examination’s content was inadequate.
11.  The other seven applicants had been or are still working as dental technicians or hygienists for a number of years.
12.  On 4 September 2009, despite their relevant professional experience, those seven applicants failed the entrance examination to study at the Faculty of Dentistry. Any preceding and subsequent attempts were also unsuccessful.
13.  Mr Marcuzzo (hereinafter “the eighth applicant”) had nevertheless passed the entrance examination in the academic year 1999/2000. However, following his failure to sit examinations for eight consecutive years on account of serious family problems (as provided for by the relevant University Rule, under Article 149 of Royal Decree no. 1592/1933), he lost his student status in July 2009.
14.  These applicants conceded that they had not pursued available domestic remedies, since in their view they would have been ineffective. According to the well-established jurisprudence of the Supreme Administrative Court, limited access to universities is compatible with the Constitution and EU law (see, amongst others, the above-mentioned advisory opinion of 12 November 2008). The eighth applicant also argued that the Supreme Administrative Court had constantly held that subjective reasons, such as family problems (as in his case), could not be considered as exceptions to the rule favouring continuity of studies. In consequence, his claim would not have been successful.